The general rule for all fingering and technical exercises = start slow and then slowly speed up.

I ALWAYS practice fingering and technical exerises with my metronome. I find this to be the most efficient way to practice.

For all of technical exercises: aim for even fingers and consistent air. We need to be building on our tone exercises from chapter 1.

The best and most simple exercise you can do are your scales, with a metronome.

 
 

1) Crabwise Scale Warm-up

My favourite pattern to start with, especially if you’re short on time is what I call the ‘Crabwise Scale’ warm-up. This goes through all of the major keys.

What to do:

. Se metronome on 80 bpm and then speed this up in small increments when it gets easier - I suggest increments of 5 bpm. There is always the option to start at a slower speed if you need to!

  • Tell yourself which scale your playing in each bar (measure).

  • If it’s a daunting task - start off by breaking it up into the individual scales.

  • We haven’t covered high note playing yet - play this exercise as high as you feel comfortable, and then aim to complete it after chapter 5.

  • For now, just slur the entire exercise - we will add different articulation patterns in chapter 3.

 
 

2) Chromatic Patterns

Chromatic patterns appear far more in music than we realise, and are not practised enough!

There are specific fingerings I’d recommend using for chromatic patterns (for both Bb + bass clarinet). Some of our ‘usual’ fingerings can be quite clunky - watch the video below and I’ll go over these.

What to do:

  • Set your metronome to 60 bpm - it may feel very slow, but you’ll quickly find some patterns are easier than others. Then as always - speed up in slow increments when you feel more comfortable with the patterns.

  • Feel free to repeat each two bar (measure) pattern as many times as you need to.

  • Slur the patterns - aiming for the best legato you can achieve.

 
 
 
 

3) Fast Fingers

As always, practising a metronome is key to developing fast & rhythmic fingers! Here are some other tips on how to develop faster fingers:

What to do:

  • Always start practising slow and steady.

  • Always try to keep fingers nice and light.

  • Try to keep your fingers as close to the keys as physically possible (without pressing any unwanted keys down by accident).

  • Try practising things in different rhythmic patterns.

  • Remember that building speed and finger agility is like training to run faster - you are building the muscles and it can take time! Be patient.

Watch out for:

  • Avoid tension in shoulders and upper-body. Try to maintain a relaxed posture.

 
 

4) Adding Arpeggio Patterns

Arpeggio’s are an exercise in precise fingers, correct voicing, embouchure and air support!

What to do:

  • For the Exercise in Rhythm & Arpeggios - start with your metronome on 60 bpm (you can soon speed it up when it is comfortable at this speed).

  • Be mindful of the different rhythm patterns and their accuracy.

  • When slurring down in an arpeggio, focus needs to be placed on our embouchure and throat - making sure the embouchure is firm but our throat is relaxed. Increasing air support to ‘catch’ the lower notes in the arpeggio can be useful.

Watch out for:

  • Make sure your jaw and embouchure isn’t moving visibly - perhaps filming yourself or playing in front of a mirror to check this. We want to avoid any tension in our jaw when playing arpeggios.

 
 

5) Intervals

For clarinet, Paul Jeanjean’s Vade-Mecum is one of my favourite technique books - this Exercise for Intervals takes inspiration from this.

This first exercise focuses on the low notes, as these keys can be heavy and clunky. If you are finding the low notes difficult at the moment - practise Exercise in Intervals part 2 & 3 until you’ve mastered chapter 4.

What to do:

  • Set your metronome at 60 bpm, and see how smoothly you can transition between the two notes in each bar (measure).

  • Aim for the best legato you can do!

  • Keep this exercise at 60 bpm - speed isn’t the aim for this.

  • Legato fingers is what we are looking for.

  • This exercise isn’t finite - keep going as high as you’d like. You could also start on different bottom notes and repeat (ie. starting on low F or G).

Watch out for:

  • Unnecessary physical movement - try to keep finger movement to a minimum.